The Scoggins Report: February 2013 Spec Market Scorecard

Longtime readers of the Scoggins Report know we accentuate the positive whenever we can. That’s been easy over the last couple of years as the spec market got hot, but there’s no getting around the fact that this year’s spec market is off to its slowest start since 2010, as you’ll see below in our first Spec Market Scorecard of the year.

Interestingly, the percentage of sales of new scripts is on par with the last two years’ average (roughly 35%). We take that to suggest that at least some of the problem stems from the fact that 40% fewer new screenplays have gone to market so far than by this point in each of the last two years. In 2011 and 2012, agents and managers took out 44 and 46 scripts, respectively, through mid-February. By contrast, just 28 scripts have gone to market so far this year.

There are some silver linings, as you’ll see from the below grids. Only three studios have bought specs so far this year, which means there’s plenty of business still ahead. And Lionsgate has already picked up two (half of the number the bought in 2012), both from Paradigm, which leads the agency scoreboard.

So stay tuned. And enjoy the graphs and grids.

2013 Overall Numbers

Of 2013‘s 11 spec sales, 2 were of scripts that originally went out prior to 2012. Here are the spec market numbers through February 15…

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Total

New Specs

19

9

28

Spec Sales

7

4

11

2012

12

13

14

12

12

15

5

13

9

13

7

7

132

2011 *

3

13

15

9

7

12

10

5

7

20

8

10

132

2010 *

1

10

7

13

4

7

0

1

6

7

5

1

65

2009

3

12

10

9

10

6

5

3

4

5

4

1

72

* For 2010 and 2011, sales of scripts that originally went to market in years prior are not distributed monthly in the above table but have been added to the year-end totals.

…and here are the monthly spec sales numbers in graph form.

The following are combined total spec and pitch sales numbers through February 15, with year over year monthly comparisons…

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Total

2012

2011

Specs

7

4

11

132

132

Pitches

3

8

11

81

106

Totals

10

12

22

213

238

2012 Total

20

20

22

26

16

22

13

16

13

19

10

15

2011 Total

7

21

28

16

15

28

20

9

12

30

16

24

…and here are those combined spec and pitch sales numbers in graph form as well.

Spec Sales By Genre (sold/total)

J

F

M

A

M

J

J

A

S

O

N

D

Total

2012

2011

2010

2009

Action/Adventure

2

2

4

29

20

16

15

Comedy

0

28

28

17

23

Drama

1

1

2

10

14

7

7

Fantasy

0

0

0

2

Horror

1

1

13

8

0

0

Sci-fi

1

1

15

15

5

7

Thriller

2

1

3

36

37

17

21

Spec Sales By Buyer – Studios

J

F

M

A

M

J

J

A

S

O

N

D

Total

2012

2011

2010

2009

Columbia

0

8

7

1

5

Disney

1

1

2

2

2

2

Fox

0

6

8

2

3

Lionsgate

2

2

4

2

1

3

MGM

1

1

0

0

0

1

Paramount

0

11

5

4

5

Universal

0

9

5

2

6

Warner Bros.

0

7

14

9

6

Totals

2

2

4

47

43

21

31

Here are the combined pitch and spec purchase numbers for the major Studio Buyers so far in 2013:

Pitches

Specs

Total

2012

2011

Columbia

0

16

16

Disney

1

1

12

11

Fox

1

1

12

16

Paramount

0

20

17

Universal

2

2

20

19

Warner Bros.

1

1

18

30

Spec Sales By Buyer – Other Buyers

J

F

M

A

M

J

J

A

S

O

N

D

Total

2012

2011

2010

2009

Incognito

1

1

0

0

0

0

QED

1

1

4

0

1

0

Sentinel

1

1

1

0

0

0

Skydance

1

1

1

1

0

0

Sollipsist

1

1

0

0

0

0

Vendome

1

1

1

0

1

0

Working Title

1

1

0

0

0

0

Totals

5

2

7

No non-studio buyers have bought both a spec and a pitch yet in 2013.

Each of the following production companies has been attached to at least one spec sale so far this year.

Allison Shearmur Productions

Anonymous Content

Broken Road

Crave Films

Electric Entertainment

Industry Entertainment

Jerry Bruckheimer Films

Le Grisbi Productions

Sean Daniel Company

Spec Sales by Seller – Agencies

J

F

M

A

M

J

J

A

S

O

N

D

Total

2012

2011

2010

2009

CAA

1

1

16

26

11

14

ICM

1

1

8

13

4

10

Original Artists

1

1

6

4

3

4

Paradigm

1

2

3

9

10

2

1

UTA

2

2

24

17

7

10

Verve

1

1

5

4

1

WME

1

1

35

22

10

Totals

5

5

10

Here are the combined pitch and spec sales numbers for agencies that have sold at least one of each in 2013.

Pitches

Specs

Total

2012

2011

CAA

2

1

3

32

50

ICM

1

1

2

15

27

Paradigm

1

3

4

15

14

UTA

1

2

3

34

30

WME

3

1

4

62

50

The following 13 agents have been involved with at least one spec sale so far this year.

Two:

David Boxerbaum (Paradigm)

Ida Ziniti (Paradigm)

One:

Chris Licata (Paradigm)

David Park (UTA)

Geoff Morley (UTA)

Jon Huddle (UTA)

Josh Hornstock (UTA)

Matt Leipzig (Original)

Mickey Berman (UTA)

Mike Esola (WME)

Marissa Devins (UTA)

Rob Herting (Verve)

Todd Feldman (CAA)

Spec Sales by Seller – Management Companies

J

F

M

A

M

J

J

A

S

O

N

D

Total

2012

2011

2010

2009

Apostle

1

1

1

Benderspink

1

1

5

5

2

5

Circle of Confusion

1

1

5

5

4

3

Energy

1

1

9

7

2

2

Industry

1

1

4

3

1

1

Linda Seifert

1

1

0

Zero Gravity

1

1

2

1

1

1

Totals

5

3

8

Here are the combined pitch and spec sales for management companies that have sold at least one of each in 2013.

Pitches

Specs

Total

2012

2011

Apostle

1

1

2

2

3

Benderspink

1

1

2

9

6

Energy

1

1

2

15

7

Industry

1

1

2

5

3

The following 9 managers have been involved with at least one spec sale so far in 2013.

Two:

Jeff Belkin (Zero Gravity)

One:

Brooklyn Weaver (Energy)

David Alpert (Circle)

DJ Talbot

George Heller (Apostle)

Greg Shephard (Circle)

Jake Wagner (Benderspink)

Linda Seifert

Michael Botti (Industry)

About The Scoggins Report:

The Scoggins Report is a terribly unscientific analysis of the feature film development business based on information assembled from a variety of public and non-public sources. The numbers in the reports are by no means official statistics.

About Script Magazine

Script has been the leading source for information on the craft and business of writing for film and television since 1995. With inside information, articles written by working writers and filmmakers, and in-depth interviews, Script is the resource on every scriptwriter's must-read list.